The trials. The tribulations. The blood, sweat and beers of fiction writing

Saturday, 9 January 2010

THE SCOTT PRIZE

Some lovely news yesterday. All things being equal, I make the odds 3/1; might be worth a pound.

I worked hard on this collection, tinkering, sculpting. It began life as my MA dissertation, doubling in size and, I hope, quality over the next year. I still maintain writing a good short story is as hard, if not harder, than a novel – though obviously not in terms of stamina.

Salt’s commitment to quality over commercial literature is admirable, and I wish them every success in 2010. Even if I don’t make the last four.

Just popped over from Nicola's party because I heard you were nearing the end of the novel first draft and I wanted to say congratulations. Seems there is something else to congratulate you on: well done getting to the shortlist for the Scott Prize... hope it all turns out well for you.

Great blog. Came via Nicola. The only bad thing is more time surfing, less time writing but nice to feel community with so many great writer folk. And congrats on the shortlist. I know nothing about it but it sounds very prestigious.

Have visited before but don't know if I've ever left a comment, although I've always enjoyed checking your blog out. Am over today from Nicola's party. Congrats on the shortlisting - thats excellent news. Best of luck with the novel (and the short story).

About

An award-winning writer living in south-west England, my short story collection, The Method, won the inaugural Scott Prize in 2010 and, in 2011, the Edge Hill Readers' Prize. Debut novel, What Lies Within, published by Headline. That Dark Remembered Day due in 2014. Lectures in Creative Writing and represented by Ed Victor. More here.

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REVIEWS OF MY WRITING

'As unsettling as it is minutely imagined, this striking debut novel will give serious pause for thought to anyone considering downsizing for a cosy life in the countryside.'Patrick Gale

'Taut and compelling, you won't just read this book, you'll devour it.'Alex Preston

'Much more than crime fiction, 'What Lies Within' is unique not just for its sharp psychological insights, but for the moral engine that drives the plot: a deep respect for, and anger on behalf of, women.'Melissa Harrison'A finely achieved work, provocative and brave.'Graham Mort'A powerful and unsettling book.'Jen Campbell

‘Gothic wit and cracking dialogue grounded in the author's genuine sympathy for his characters. A seriously gifted debut.'Mike McCormack

‘Talent is here.’Gerard Donovan

‘These stories are sensational. Beautifully written, impeccably timed. Vowler’s characters live with heightened sensitivity, as if in the wake of some disaster. Then you realise that they are, but then that we all are. Where an object, a gesture, a memory, takes on painful, beautiful resonance, as it should be, all the time.’Luke Kennard

'The Method is stunning. Writing doesn't get better.'Nicola Morgan

‘Vowler's characters hurtle merrily towards self-annihilation so that we don't have to. The kind of book you read in tongue-sticking-out tension, your patience rewarded as he takes turn after salacious turn.’Wena Poon

‘You explore a difficult subject with considerable imagination. From the opening quotes it is intriguing and you have been clever in capturing and retaining the reader’s attention.’Michael Barnard

'Emotionally powerful.'Susie Maguire

'I admired the sheer style of the writing, as well as the wryness and authority of the narrative voice. I kept reading out of admiration for the prose.'Will Atkins

'Some of the best comic writing I've read.'Patrick Holland

'A writer of extraordinary talent and perception.'Jane Smith

‘Vowler is not afraid to be new, to be dangerous with it and flaunt his talent. Composed beautifully and saturated with insight and compassion.’The Short Review

Sagacity

Write a little each day, without hope and without despair.

'The first draft of anything is shit.' Hemingway

'Writing a book is like a long bout of painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if not driven by some demon.' Orwell

'The novelist’s job is to say what other people won’t say, and take the consequences.' Gerard Donovan

Thinking about writing is not writing. Talking about writing is not writing. Blogging about writing is not writing. Only writing is writing.